Melissa Gilbert, who charmed audiences across the country as Laura Ingalls Wilder in “Little House on the Prairie,” knew when it was time to leave Los Angeles.
The former child star, who grew up in the spotlight, became a familiar face in Hollywood during the ‘80s, dating heartthrobs like Rob Lowe and Billy Idol. At 47, she competed on “Dancing with the Stars.”
However, over the years, the actress found herself obsessed with the need to look youthful. Today, the 60-year-old has a lifestyle brand, Modern Prairie, which aims to uplift older women, regardless of their age.
“I looked at myself in the mirror several years back,” Gilbert recalled to Fox News Digital. “I was living in Los Angeles, and I did not recognize who I was. I had overfilled my face and my lips. My forehead didn’t move. I was still dyeing my hair red. I was driving a Mustang convertible. I was a size two in an unhealthy way. I looked like a frozen version of my younger self, and that’s not who I was.”
“I was stuck,” Gilbert admitted. “I could feel myself fighting it. And I said to myself, ‘It’s time to age.’ I had to leave Los Angeles to do that – not Hollywood – Los Angeles specifically.”
Gilbert said she and her husband, actor Timothy Busfield, moved to his home state of Michigan following their wedding in 2013.
They lived there for five years. She felt free to finally age.
“I stop coloring my hair,” she explained. “I had [my] breast implants removed. I decided to just be the best, healthiest version of myself without this pressure to look a certain way, and it paid off in a huge way.
“I finally found my feet as a woman, fully, 100 percent strong in my own knowledge, in my own accomplishments. Everything got easier. And a bonus? I have a lot more free time not staring in a mirror, sitting in a dermatologist’s chair, or sitting in a hair chair.”
Gilbert also credited her “sweet husband” for encouraging her to embrace the aging process.
“I think as I’ve aged, we’ve just fallen more and more in love with one another, which is such an extraordinary gift,” she explained. “And I think that’s for so many reasons. I think for him, I am much more myself and so much more comfortable in my own skin because I’m through menopause because I am at this age.”
“I love that we are together now at this point in our lives,” she added.
In 2019, Gilbert and Busfield purchased a rustic cottage on 14 acres in the Catskill Mountains. Life today is “incredibly fulfilling,” she said.
“It’s remarkable,” Gilbert gushed. “I love being this age. There are things about it that are not a lot of fun. I don’t like it when my ankles ache in the morning or my skin’s drier. Aging is not for sissies, but it is certainly better than the alternative. And I’ve never felt better in my skin.”
“I have nine extraordinary grandchildren,” she shared. “I spend my days communicating and supporting the community of Modern Prairie. I’m so creatively fulfilled in the creation of these products and the growth of this company.”
Gilbert noted that the goal of Modern Prairie is to “support one another as we go through all the incredible changes we are experiencing at this phase in our lives, both physically and emotionally.”
In time for November – Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month – Modern Prairie is launching a special collection featuring purple, the official color of pancreatic cancer awareness. Gilbert told the outlet that all proceeds from the collection would support PanCAN.
It is a cause that hits close to home for Gilbert. Michael Landon, who played patriarch Charles Ingalls in “Little House on the Prairie,” was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at age 54. He died three months after publicly announcing his diagnosis in 1991.
Gilbert’s longtime pal, Patrick Swayze, also passed away in 2009 at age 57 from pancreatic cancer.
When not raising awareness of the disease, Gilbert is still pursuing her love of acting. She just joined the cast of Hallmark’s “When Calls the Heart,” and she is currently involved with another project in development at Lifetime.
“It just never ends, and I am thoroughly enjoying my life,” said Gilbert. “I have to say that I don’t think I’ll ever not have ‘Half Pint’ inside of me. That little plucky, feisty, fiery girl is still in there and is very much the driver of everything I do. Sometimes she gets me in a little trouble, but she never goes away. I have a youthful spirit, but a wise old brain.”